20 Sep 2011

The Tech Savvy Genealogists’ Meme

I’ve
not come across a ‘meme’ before, but this one caught my eye given the giant
geek I think myself to be…… lets see how I do. Thanks to Deb Ruth, over at Adventures in Genealogy for lighting this particular fire
under me

Are you a tech savvy genealogist?

The list should be annotated in the following manner:

*Things you have already done or found: bold face type
*Things you would like to do or find: italicize (colour optional)
*Things you haven’t done or found and don’t care to: plain type

Feel free to add extra comments in brackets after each item.

Which of these apply to you?

Own an Android or Windows tablet or an
iPad

Use a tablet or iPad for genealogy related purposes (my OH has just purchased a Sony Tablet.
I hate the i-craze so I’ll never own an iPad but I will be having a play around
with the OHs Tablet to see if its any good)

Have used Skype to for genealogy
purposes

Have used a camera to capture images in a library, archives,
or ancestor’s home (My
camera is always with me when I go hunting. Its very useful if I find something
I wasn’t expecting and its cheaper than printing copies & quicker than
copying down information the old fashioned way)

Use a genealogy software program on your
computer to manage your family tree (I use FTM2011 and love it)

Have more then one genealogy
blog (my other blog is about my STEERS ONS, go take a look)

Have lectured/presented to a genealogy group on a
technology topic. (The
thought of doing something like this terrifies me, plus I have no patience)

Currently an active member of Genealogy Wise (Haven’t heard of this….*goes off to
check* … interesting. Have just joined up)

Have a Facebook Account

Have
connected with genealogists via Facebook (Facebook is still a distraction for me, I use Google+ and
Twitter more for genealogical interactions)

Maintain a
genealogy related Facebook Page(I have a page for the STEERS ONS)

Maintain a blog or website for a
genealogy society

Have submitted text corrections online to
Ancestry, Trove or a similar site (many, many, many, times…*sigh*)

Have registered a domain name

Post
regularly to Google+ (Need
to do more of this)

Have a blog listed on Geneabloggers (a godsend of a site.)

Have transcribed/indexed records for
FamilySearch or a similar project

Own a Flip-Pal or hand-held scanner (If the Flip-Pal manufactures EVER read
this PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE ship to the UK or I’ll be forced to stick it
on my wedding list and bully my American cousins into getting one &
shipping it to me)

Can
code a webpage in .html
(now I can do basic .html but nothing fancy)

Own a smartphone (Android I
<3 you)

Have a personal subscription to one or more paid genealogy
databases

Use a digital voice recorder to record genealogy lectures

Have contributed to a genealogy blog carnival

Use Chrome as a Browser
(Anything is better than IE)

Have participated in a genealogy webinar

Have taken a DNA test for genealogy purposes

Have a
personal genealogy website
(which can be found here
– is in dire need of an update though)

Have found
mention of an ancestor in an online newspaper archive

Have tweeted during a genealogy lecture

Have scanned your hardcopy genealogy files

Use an RSS Reader to follow genealogy news and
blogs (GoogleReader)

Have uploaded a gedcom file to a site like Geni,
MyHeritage or Ancestry

Own a netbook
(I’m still debating this)

Use a computer/tablet/smartphone to take genealogy lecture notes

Have a profile on LinkedIn that mentions your genealogy

Have developed a genealogy software program, app or widget

Have listened to a genealogy podcast online

Have downloaded
genealogy podcasts for later listening

Backup your files to a portable hard drive

Have a copy of your genealogy files stored
offsite

Know about Rootstech

Have listened to a Blogtalk radio session about
genealogy

Use Dropbox, SugarSync or other
service to save documents in the cloud (I <3 Dropbox)

Schedule
regular email backups

Have contributed to the Familysearch Wiki

Have scanned
and tagged your genealogy photographs(It’s an ongoing process)

Have published a genealogy book in an online/digital
format

My tech savvy score is 24 out of 50 = 48%

That’s not bad. I find it difficult to get to talks because I work
full time and I wouldn’t use my phone during a talk unless it was a feature of
the talk because it just seems a little disrespectful (to be at least). I still take notes by
hand because it helps me remember points of discussion more easily.

My email’s are handled online so I’ve never really thought about
having to back them up (despite loosing about 3 years worth of contacts last
year) so that’s something I really need to sort out.